I was thinking about how I dodged a bullet

As I listened to the woman tell her 3-year-old to cool it

The room was a wreck right when I walked in

An examination room turned into a play pen

A pink marker and that cardboard center of paper towels

The mom grabbed them both as the little boy cried foul

My ear drums burst and I felt dizzy

I thought it couldn’t get worse when he yelled for his “sissy”

Out from the stroller popped another one: a fountain of drool ran out of her lower gum

Me and the mom were trying to have a simple conversation

But it turned into an impossible equation

She asked for a referral to an OB

Told me she was expecting number 3

I stepped on some cheerios as I made my way to her

The little boy tapped away on the keyboard

All the medical records gone

Who was keeping score

The little girl in the stroller yawned and then started to cry

I followed suit

Nothing about any of this was cute

The little boy stomped his feet and continued to yell

In a few moments’ time I had glimpsed my own personal hell

I finally made it over to the woman, past the stroller and the forlorn child’s shoe

Whispered to the mom, “How are you?”

She smiled wanly

As the little boy cried, “Mommy!”

It took all my nerve not to shout back

My ears were still ringing, heart racing – a panic attack

I couldn’t tell how she really felt

My relief came finally from a knock at the door

I made me escape

My symptoms resolved – as soon as I got out of there, I felt great

But will that mom ever get relief

All I could observe was chaos and grief

The older I get, the less I care

That I’m not that woman

Oh, how it could have been me

If I’m honest, the mom life looks like nothing but misery

Funny what society expects

I’m glad I took a minute to figure out context

I’m thinking about that mom tonight – I hope she’s well

Some people’s heaven is another’s hell